1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to novelty devices that can be used to hold and rotate candy and more particularly to a manually operable device for holding and rotating candy in one direction with one hand of the user.
2. Background Art
Suckers or lollipops, either in the form of a sphere or a disk mounted on a stick, have long been popular candies. Eating a sucker most often involves licking it and, particularly with the spherical suckers, turning or rotating it as it is being licked. There are prior art devices facilitating the mechanical rotation of the spherical suckers. One such device is disclosed in Schwartz U.S. Pat. No. 2,799,587 and Schwartz et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,290,157 in which a sucker is secured on one end of a spirally grooved stick with a collar rotatably mounted on the other end of the stick. A nut that engages the spiral grooves is carried by the stick intermediate the sucker and the collar. The user grasps the collar with the fingers of one hand and uses the fingers of the other hand to urge the nut up and down along the stick causing the stick to rotate within the collar and of course, causing the sucker to rotate. The Schwartz device, however, has the distinct disadvantage of requiring the user, who is often a child, to have to use both hands in order to effect rotation of the sucker. A more recent device for rotating a sucker is disclosed in Coleman et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,692 and uses an electric motor to effect rotation of the sucker. Products sold under the registered trademark "SPIN POP" owned by Cap Toys, Inc. on which U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,692 is marked, are somewhat different in appearance than the device disclosed in Coleman et al. with the battery motor and drive mechanism being carried within a generally cylindrical handle portion rather than the housing disclosed in the Coleman et al. patent. Although the battery powered electric motor device permits the user to hold and rotate the sucker with only one hand, it does have disadvantages resulting from the use of the battery powered electric motor such as weight, cost and possible perceived concerns about the use by a child of an electric motor powered device driving something that a child will insert in its mouth. In addition, neither the Schwartz nor the Coleman device provides for the rotation of a disc shaped sucker, as opposed to a spherical shaped sucker, in a plane generally parallel to the axis of the hand held portion. Accordingly, there continues to be a need for a manually operable device for holding and rotating candy with one hand of the user.